USDA Orders Reversal of Full SNAP Benefits

The U.S. Department of Agriculture ordered states on Saturday to reverse any actions taken to distribute full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for November, directing them instead to issue only partial payments of about 65 percent of typical allotments. The directive came amid a prolonged federal government shutdown that entered its 40th day on Sunday, disrupting funding for the program that aids nearly 42 million low-income Americans in purchasing groceries.

The order followed a late Friday decision by Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who temporarily stayed a lower court ruling requiring the full funding of November SNAP benefits. The stay allows time for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit to review the Trump administration's appeal. Earlier in the week, U.S. District Judge John McConnell in Rhode Island had ruled that partial payments from a $4.6 billion contingency fund were insufficient and ordered the use of additional emergency reserves to cover the program's full monthly cost of $8 billion to $9 billion.

The shutdown, which began Oct. 1 over a congressional funding dispute, initially led the administration to announce that no SNAP...